Bring in the Shinigami!
by Shirou-Tenshin
Summary: A hinted IchiRuki, have to squint to see it HitsuOC fic. A rewrite of episode 115/end of 114. The Shinigami are back to help Ichigo in his state of depression over the Arrancar, but they brought a new friend with them. Welcome to Karakura, Hoshino Yuki.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Bleach! All properties of Bleach belong to its creator, Tite Kubo. The only character I own is the OC Yuki._

As he dusted off the chalkboard in silence, Kurosaki Ichigo reflected upon the events that had recently occurred to him and the strong emotions that brewed deep in his heart, strangling his veins and causing his breath to catch in his throat. It had happened just a few days ago. Suddenly, from the peaceful blue sky, dropped a couple of strange invaders with even stranger powers. Both had the mask fragment and heart hole of a hollow, but… they also had Zanpaktou firmly attached to their waists as well. Upon arriving to rescue Orihime, as well as Chad, who had already been severely injured in battle by these monsters, he took his friend's place in the fight, battling against the larger opponent, successfully cutting off his right arm. However, just as things were going according to plan, his inner hollow had interrupted in the fight, restricting his movements in attempts to make Ichigo see that he needed to use the powers of his inner hollow to win, causing Ichigo to also get beaten as his opponent tossed around his immovable body like a rag doll across the field. Never had he felt so weak, so utterly useless. _Dammit!_ He thought. He wasn't strong enough to beat these enemies, who, he discovered, were members of Aizen Sousuke's army. Reminiscing on his defeat, he knew Urahara and Yoruichi, coming just in the knick of time, had saved him as he wallowed in shame. Sure, his life had been spared, but what of his pride? Thinking back on it, he heard the voice of the pale figure with cold, emotionless green eyes echoing in his mind like a slicing dagger:

_"We are reporting back to Aizen-sama. I'm going to tell him that the Substitute Shinigami he had his eyes on… is just trash, and not even worth killing…"_

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo cursed under his breath. How had all of this happened? One day, everything was peaceful and undisturbed for the most part, minus the presence of the occasional Hollow, and, of course, the new transfer student, Hirako Shinji; an issue that could be ignored for certain periods of time, and something he could deal with. The question was… could he deal with _this_? This new threat that had come to haunt him and his friends and loved ones, or the innocent that had gotten drawn into the battle unwillingly, only to die at the hands of these fiends? By the looks of things, he would say that he was far from even comprehending how unprepared and weak he was when it came to dealing with this new threat. What exactly were they, these mercenaries from within the grottos of Hueco Mundo? Were they like Shinji? Like… him? He didn't need Shinji telling him. He knew his hollow was getting stronger and stronger with every passing day, get closer and closer… He didn't have the will to contemplate that right now. His thoughts were on Orihime, Chad, and Tatsuki. That morning, Orihime had come to school for the first time in five days since the attack. She had stayed in bed, healing her wounds at Urahara's shop. He approached her, prepared to apologize to her for allowing his own weakness to let harm befall his precious friends. He recalls the bulky cast surrounding her left forearm and the broken smile on her face, telling him not to worry. "Inoue…"

Turning to him, she smiled her famous perky smile, happy to see him feeling better. She knew he must have wanted to speak with her about something because she responded to him with a nervous, "Yes, Kurosaki-kun?"

What could he say to her? What else could he have done? The troubled feelings that swirled like a wild tempest in his mind dragged him down into a choking grave, making his tongue dry, his throat clench, and his lips seal. He only looked to her with the deepest and most honest expression of regret, turning away with a quiet, "… Never mind. Forget it. It's nothing."

And with that, he saw the usually cheery, happy-go-lucky girl race out of the classroom and down the hall in sadness, with Chizuru hot on her trail. Even now, the words she said at the shop still rang into his thoughts…

"_Don't apologize. Please…" He looked to her, a cast around left arm and bandages wrapped tightly around the left side of her head. "It's okay, really…" she said, "It was my choice to jump in like that. It was my own fault… that I got hurt. Really, it's not as bad as it looks. So…"_

_Her eyes were filled with tears. Tears of concern, tears of sadness, tears of concealed pain, all for his sake, all to make him feel better, all for him. "Don't apologize… It wasn't your fault"_

_Why_? He asked himself, _Why?_... _Chad got hurt… Tatsuki almost died… All because I was too weak, too weak to protect my friends. How can I not… feel guilty? How can I not… apologize?_

So here he was, Kurosaki Ichigo, as miserable as ever, head bowed in penitence as he silently grieved for the misfortunes his friends suffered through. And it was entirely his fault.

Suddenly, the wave of familiar reiatsu stunned him on the spot and caused him to gasp, eyes widening as he glanced to the white door of his classroom, hearing the familiar bickering that he had become accustom to in the heart of the Seireitei all those months ago when he rescued Rukia from the clutches of her executioners.

"This is your fault!! You should have just let me bring a real sword!!"

"It's not us, it's the law here."

"No swords?! That's a stupid law!"

"SHUT UP!!! You're making a scene!"

"Fine…"

"Fine…"

"Ah, he's in here. Go on, open the door."

When the door swung open, Ichigo certainly wasn't expecting to see such familiar faces, let alone those faces being Shinigami from the Soul Society he knew all too well. In his usual arrogant voice, the redhead greeted the baffled substitute, "Yo! How've you been, Ichigo?!"

The teen in question took a moment to register the picture in front of him before actually replying. "R-Renji?! Ikkaku?! Yumichika!! Rangiku-san!!" He was even more shocked to see who their leader was, getting in closer to really make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. "Toushirou!?!"

The small captain quickly came back with his own rebuttal. "That's **Captain Hitsugaya!**"

Looking with confusion and skepticism at his redheaded friend, Ichigo asked, "What the hell are you guys doing here?!"

"We're on a mission." Was Renji's quick reply. "We were ordered to team up with the Substitute Shinigami for the battle against the Arrancars."

Again with confusion and even, disbelief, Ichigo looked to Renji. "What?... Arran… Who?"

"Eh? You fought them without even knowing who they were?!"

A sudden, yet strong voice echoed through the classroom, unmistakable, and unchanged. One that, even Ichigo, could never forget, even if he lived for all eternity. One that was more familiar to him than all the rest. "Dumbass! Those guys that nearly killed you the other day!"

Turning to the source, which was the classroom window, there was a moment of silence where the room stood still as he was suddenly reunited with his dearest friend, and the one who changed his life. Looking with a shocked expression at her face, he practically whispered her name. "…Rukia."

"Long time no see, eh Ichigo?"

Time stopped as the two stared at each other for, what felt like an eternity. Brown eyes met indigo somewhere in the middle, and the long awaited return of the Shinigami who had granted Ichigo his chance to shine had finally come home. From the back of his mind, Ichigo could faintly here the shocked words of his classmates and Chizuru calling out to him. However, the good moments were suddenly cut short when Rukia jumped from the windowsill with extreme speed and agility. Without time to react, a foot found itself planted right into Ichigo's face, sending him flying back.

"What the hell was that for?!" Without skipping a beat, Renji grabbed onto his arms, locking him in place. "Huh?" answered a bewildered Ichigo before getting slapped in the face a couple times by the same small raven-haired Shinigami. Pissed off at such an unwelcoming greeting, he retaliated. "You Bitch!"

"Look at yourself!!" She yelled back before pulling out her damned glove, smacking him on the forehead, and dragging his Shinigami soul out of his body and out the window with a harsh, "You're coming with me!", leaving the other Shinigami behind in Ichigo's classroom. That is never a good idea.

***

"Just as I expected" started Rangiku, her face holding a newfound smugness to it.

"I guess so, huh… seriously, though, what a pain in the ass…" replied a stoic Renji.

Ikkaku, wearing a pissed off look, answered, "Don't you think it's justified, though, after seeing how he stared at her with such an idiotic face?"

That was when a battle commenced between Yumichika and Rangiku.

"Is that so?... Well, it may have been weird, but it was also attractive… 3", began Rangiku.

"Attractive?! Just what could ever be attractive about that uncultured swine?!"

"I wasn't asking for your approval, Yumichika.."

"Then who's approval were you seeking? Ikkaku's?!"

"Hey don't drag me into this. Idiots."

A slowly steaming Hitsugaya finally snapped under the heavy blanket of bickering and arguing.  
"Hey, guys!? Would you shut up for a second!?"

Then, glancing over to the side, he finally noticed the small figure that, this entire time since entering the school, had been silently hiding behind Rangiku and her curvaceous hips. Sighing, he addressed the hidden figure, hoping to get her out with the rest of them. "Hey Yuki, you don't have to be scare you know. Kurosaki and Kuchiki are gone now, so you don't have to keep hiding behind Matsumoto."

The figure glanced out from behind her shield, looking rather nervous. This was her first time to the World of the Living and she was rather frightened by all the weird things that appeared here. She had already walked out into the road, nearly getting hit by a strange, yet fast moving machine. That had scared her half to death, and she didn't want to go through it again. She wasn't even sure if the humans in this school were safe to be around. Everything about this world both amazed and frightened her. She wanted to know more, but was afraid of the consequences. "Mou, but why captain? I don't really like it here…"

Running a hand trough his white hair, Hitsugaya groaned. He really didn't want to deal with this. He couldn't help Yuki right now, they needed to get to Ichigo's place…if stupid Rangiku hadn't lost the damn directions!! Looking at the poor girl, he didn't even know why Rangiku and Rukia had commissioned Yuki for this expedition anyway…not to mention that the schoolgirl outfit suited her a little too well. Scratching the back of his head, he tried to reassure the girl that there were no worries. "Look Yuki, there's no danger here. We aren't fighting Hollows. These are just a group of normal teenagers, so you don't have to be afraid".

He offered his hand to her, but she declined, stepping out on her own to ogle around the classroom. "Wow, these classrooms sure are different then the ones back at home!" she noticed.

Suddenly, voices from the back of the class made themselves known to the group of Shinigami at the front. "Whoa!"

The Shinigami glanced at the back to watch the teens in their shocked and confused ramblings.

"What the hell happened to Kurosaki? That chick beat the shit out of him, and then he just keeled over…"

"I think I can see the whites of his eyes!"

"Hey Kurosaki… are you alright?"

"You guys, I think he's dead."

"Yeah, these guys are bad news. Look at the guy with the funky red hair!"

Cutting in before Renji could retaliate, Ikkaku reassured the Sixth Division Lieutenant. "Don't worry about it, Renji. They're only humans anyways."

This didn't stop the kids from gossiping.

"Whoa, he's even got tattoos!

"Look! One of them's got a wooden sword!"

"Who's the hottie with the gold hair?"

"That guy's got silver hair."

"Is that one guy bald?"

"Does that guy have feathers glued to his eyebrow?"

"That little girl looks like she should be in the middle school across the street."

"That chick has huge breasts…"

"Hey, I was right, he is bald!"

Fuming, Ikkaku started to pull out his sword. "Hey, whoever just called me bald twice, get your ass over here, now…"

Now, it was Renji's turn to be the smart one. "Don't worry about it, man. They're just humans after all…"

"THE HELL WITH THAT! I'LL CUT THEM ALL IN HALF!!"

"With a wooden sword?" inquired Renji.

"I shall assist you, Ikkaku!" replied a sparkling Yumichika.

Trying to calm the nerves of the poor captain who was put in charge of this band of idiots, Yuki tried in vain to pat Hitsugaya's back. "You alright, Captain?"

With veins bulging from his head, and his eyes fixed with hidden rage and annoyance, he seethed through his teeth. "I really wish this was someone else's job right now…"

From outside the class, Mizuiro and Keigo were loitering in the halls, Mizuiro, on his cell phone, and Keigo, trying in vain to get his attention. "It's true Mizuiro! If you mix one part Calpico and two parts ginger ale, it tastes just like hair tonic!"

While dialing the buttons, Mizuiro answered with a sarcastic tone, "That's really something Asano-san. Drink a lot of hair tonic, do you?"

"HUH? What's with the 'Asano-san' all of a sudden? Why so distant and cold, man?"

Looking over to his class, which seemed to be making an extreme amount of noise for such a small room, he closed his phone, ignoring Keigo's pleas for attention. "What's going on in our classroom?"

Turning, Keigo beamed at the chance for the spotlight. "What? Oh, yeah! Right! I'll scout it out!!" Running to the classroom, he threw the door open, yelling at his fellow students, "Hey, who decided to have all the fun without-" he certainly didn't expect a bald-headed villain at the entrance to the class, glaring at him. He gulped, finishing his sentence in a squeak of, "me?" before he was grabbed by his tie, eye to eye with this hoodlum.

"Who are you?! What the hell you looking at?! I'll beat you, stretch you, fry you, chew you up, and spit you out!! Let's go buddy!"

Ikkaku's threats were met with punishment, also known as Rangiku's hand making hard contact to the back of his head. As he winced in pain, she wore a look of annoyance at his habit of picking fights with poor unfortunate strangers.

"Leave him alone, Baldy."

Ikkaku turned to her, rather pissed, "What the hell, Rangiku?! That hurts!!"

"Stop whining and shut up or I'll tell Yachiru about this."

He stopped. In his division, telling of something that you weren't suppose to do to the bubbly pink little spawn of death was almost as bad, if not sometimes worse, than telling Captain Zaraki himself. Sweating bullets, he pleaded reason with the irked blonde. "W-what? But they, I mean… spare me, please?"

"That's better." she answered. Clapping, she got the attention of the rest of the party. "No more distractions! We're booking it out of here, you idiots!"

Hitsugaya, still in need of an aspirin and a good, long nap, glared to Rangiku. "You wouldn't be including me in this band of 'idiots', would you?"

Turning to him, she smiled. "Of course not Captain!" She looked over and saw Yuki still gazing around like a child in a candy shop. "or little Yuki-chan either."

From Keigo's view, he could only gape before the almighty glory of the Valley of the Gods that was Rangiku's chest. Being the pervert that he was, Keigo had no regrets about jumping right at her, arms outstretched, waiting for the embrace of the godly cleavage. "That's quite a scandalous uniform, Onee-san!!"

He was instantly met head on with a fist to his face. He fell to his defeat, reduced to a quivering worm on the ground, feeling the heat from the punch in his face. The group walked away, leaving the poor broken teen behind to grovel on the ground. "Is that guy all right?" asked Ikkaku.

"Oh yeah, he's fine. Let's go guys!" replied Rangiku.

"But Rangiku-chan… We don't know how to get to Ichigo-san's house…" pointed out a naive Yuki.

"That, my dear Yuki-chan, is what the humans call 'Winging it'."

***

Mizuiro, who was walking by, stepped on Keigo just as he was getting up, making him groan. "You sure make a good foot rest, Asano-san."

He's only response was, "I'll kill you…"

_A/N: Please R&R. I hoped you enjoyed the fic, and wait for my next upcoming fics. Also, there will be a poll posted to determine the pair that Yuki will be placed in by the end, so keep your eyes open!_


	2. Chapter 2

Sighing, the irritated prodigy of the tenth division wondered how he ever managed to get stuck with this bunch of brainless buffoons. They had been walking around the town of Karakura for a good 2 hours and still no sign of the Kurosaki residence. As he turned his gaze to face the root of this problem, the busty blonde continued to babble, as would a remote without a mute button, or perhaps a phone that never ceased to ring. Though her powers as a lieutenant were quite the adversary, he wondered if it was a good idea to bring her along on this mission. While his silver hair definitely stood out from the norm, along with Renji's hair and Ikkaku's lack of such, he would bet that Rangiku was the black sheep in their group based solely on her habit of always standing out in a crowd. She just never knew when to stop drawing the attention to herself, even in an unknown area where she had no clue as to what she was doing. The constant arguing and bickering between her and Renji was starting to get to him, and finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He stopped walking and turned to face them; "Would you two shut up?! Your bickering isn't getting us anywhere but even more lost than we already are!"

Rangiku looked to him with a pleading gleam in her eye, whining in his ear. "But captain! That's what I'm trying to tell him! Why can't we just stop and ask someone for directions to the Kurosaki Clinic? I'm sure someone has to know where it is, and then we wouldn't have to keep walking around aimlessly like this! Besides, my feet are starting to get tired… this gigai is so tight and has almost no flexibility to it! I get tired and sore so easily in it!"

Hitsugaya felt a twinge of embarrassment when he caught the strange looks the bystanders were throwing them. He sighed, rubbing his temples to try and ease his aching head. Why could things never go the way he wanted them to? "Please Matsumoto, stop speaking so loudly… you're only drawing more attention to yourself…"

"But captain!-"

"You see Rangiku?!" interjected Renji, "If YOU hadn't lost the original directions, we wouldn't have gotten into this situation in the first place! Besides, we don't need to stop for directions. We'll come across the place eventually. We just need to follow our instincts, which, apparently, is something you can't do! What is it with women and losing all the important things, like the directions?!"

"What is it with men and asking for directions!?" she retaliated.

As the two were butting heads, ready to tear each other's throats out, Toushirou contemplated the pros and cons of permanently freezing them in a block of ice and noticed that both Ikkaku and Yumichika were awfully quiet. Turning to them, he asked, "Is everything alright, Madarame?"

Ikkaku looked to him, sighing. "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it? We don't really care, as long as we just do whatever the hell we need to…"

Sighing, Toushirou realized that Ikkaku was probably just as irritated as he was, only he knew how to deal with it better than he. As the captain turned to the squabbling pair, he walked over and yanked them apart, yelling at them. "What is the matter with you two?! What did I just tell you? Stop squabbling like a couple of children and you might be able to figure out a plan of attack! Rangiku!"

The blonde scrambled to her feet, looking strait at him. "Y-Yes captain?!"

Toushirou knew he'd regret this later, but if it helped them find their way, he would have to take the blow this would do on his masculinity. "Go ask that boy over there for the directions to the Kurosaki Clinic."

In a loud 'hein?!' of protest from Renji, Rangiku happily skipped over to the young boy, calling out to him and waving. Toushirou did a face-palm when he realized that was not the best idea considering that Rangiku loved to be flashy, and that her uniform did little to cover herself. Needless to say, the young man was quite shocked when he turned to see a beautiful goddess skipping over to him, a bright smile on her lips, and her breasts bouncing happily in her shirt. "Yoohoo! Could I just talking to you for a-" began Rangiku.

However, the poor boy had fainted in the next second, not allowing Rangiku to finish her sentence, or even get to him for that matter.

"Poor kid" whispered Renji.

"Never knew what hit him" added Ikkaku.

When Rangiku rejoined the circle, she had a disappointed look on her face. "How rude! Not even allowing someone to ask you a simple question without fainting on you. I thought the humans couldn't become overwhelmed by our reiatsu while we were in our gigais."

"Believe me Rangiku, it wasn't your reiatsu that overwhelmed him." said Renji in a sarcastic tone.

Just as Rangiku was about to respond, she looked over Renji's shoulder to see an elderly woman walking out of a small flower shop. Rangiku decided to try again and ran over to the old woman and asked her. Maybe she wouldn't faint on her like that boy over on the side of the road. When she approached, the woman smiled to her. "Excuse me, Ma'am, but could you tell us where the Kurosaki Clinic is? My…" she looked to the others and decided to use her captain as the excuse in this one. "My little brother is a new patient there, but I'm afraid we've lost the directions."

The older woman looked up to Rangiku's eyes and smiled. "Oh my, you must be new around here, after all, how could you not notice?"

When she spoke, Rangiku's expression turned to a questioning look as she asked the old woman, "What do you mean, 'how could we not notice'?"

The elderly woman laughed at her childishness and it was loud enough to stir the others who were waiting in the group. As they all looked over to Rangiku and the old woman, the busty lieutenant glanced back at them, shrugging her shoulders before she turned back to hear the woman's response. "Well child, to get to the Kurosaki Clinic from here is quite simple, in fact," she poked her head around Rangiku, glancing behind her and down the street, "It's right over there."

As Rangiku turned her head, the other Shinigami followed and all gasped, gawking when they saw the huge, bright blue sign that read 'Kurosaki Clinic' just a few doors down the street. Toushirou did another face-palm, ready to freeze the first person that dared to laugh at their predicament. How naïve, how stupid of him! It was right down the street! All he had to do was look up! How embarrassing…

Just as he was trying to get his shattered dignity back together, Toushirou felt a tug on his arm as his lieutenant yanked him away, racing towards the house. Just as he protested, he figured it best to just go along with her and avoid further humiliation. Rangiku turned back to look at the rest of the party, calling them over. "Come on now you guys! It's no use standing out here, let's go!"

Between a share of groans and mumbles, the other Shinigami followed Rangiku to the front of the Kurosaki Clinic, feeling the embarrassment spread between them like a virus. As they stood in front of the building, they glanced over to see the old woman cackling as she walked away. The party simply stared at the building, unsure of what their next move was going to be, until the captain spoke up. "Alright, well we should probably wait for Kurosaki and Kuchiki to come back… I guess we will just have to stand here and wait for-"

"Taichou! How boring!"

The small captain was taken by surprise when his lieutenant appeared right beside him to whine in his ear. He sighed. Why did Rangiku always have to make things difficult?

"Well, what do you suggest we do in the meantime, since you seem to be the smart one around here?!" he snapped back.

Then, he regretted it when she got that devious smirk on her face. Having worked in office with Rangiku for so many years, Toushirou knew that when she had that look on her face, it meant either trouble, or she had so sort of sneaky idea that was bound to get THEM in trouble. As she spoke, his thoughts were confirmed.

"I have an idea…" she said, "Instead of just standing here, why don't we hide and wait for them? We could hide in Ichgo's attic and jump out when he least expects it! What do you say?"

There was silence for a moment until she glared at the group for being so unresponsive. The boys just sighed and all but her captain answered with a unionized, "Whatever…"

Rangiku smiled and looked to her captain. She knew that it was always he who was the hardest to convince of anything that she brought up. The two stared at each other for a moment before the boy genius replied with a solid, "No."

"But taichou-!"

"Absolutely not! I will not be a part of your silly little game! If you want to get yourself into trouble, be my guest, but do not include me!"

"Taichou, you're such a spoil sport!"

"I don't care!"

"Fine!" growled Rangiku, "I'll just get Yuki-chan to come with me!"

"Go ahead!" he barked back.

"Alright then, come on Yuki-chan-… Yuki-chan?"

The group stopped. In that moment they all suddenly noticed. Yuki was no longer in their group. All was silent until Rangiku shouted, "YUKI-CHAN!!"

The group was in a bit of a predicament. Yuki was well known by many of the squads for having a habit of wandering off, manly because she often visited many of the squads during her wanderings. Even when in the middle of something important! Usually, she would see something new that intrigued her, or she would see someone she knew and go off to make small talk. In this case, considering that they were in the World of the Living, where the only people she knew were already with her, it was probably the first case scenario. Toushirou began rubbing his temples again. His headache was beginning to return with a vengeance as Rangiku and Renji flipped and ran around haphazardly, trying to figure out when exactly she had left the group and how long she had been gone before they noticed just now. Ikkaku and Yumichika, knowing full well of Yuki's habit, sighed at the pair, who ran around in a frenzy. The captain of tenth hated babysitting his subordinates like this. This was the reason why he didn't want Rangiku or Rukia to bring Yuki on this mission with them. Now her whereabouts would become a problem… A vein throbbed on his forehead, and Toushirou couldn't take it anymore. "That's enough you two! Stop running around like a couple of idiots!"

"But taichou!", whined Rangiku, "Yuki-chan-"

"I know, I know!" the captain sighed. "We'll just have to wait until she can find her way here… There's no other choice. Kurosaki and Kuchiki will be back any minute, and we need to brief him on what has been going on with the Soul Society and the situation with the Arrancar. Relax Matsumoto, you know Hoshino will find her way here. She always does."

Rangiku paused for a moment, then sighed, realizing that her captain was right. Every time that Yuki would wander off, no matter for how long or how far she went, she somehow always managed to find her way to where she needed to be. Although, Rangiku only wished that Yuki's habit didn't also involve wandering off with bad timing. Collecting herself, Rangiku nodded, "Alright taichou, but only because I know Yuki-chan… now, who's up for the attic?!"

Rangiku dashed about, finding a way up to the roof in order to sneak into the attic. The other four sighed before following her, all but her captain, who refused to take part in her games. He walked over and sat down next to the side of the house, above the window to Ichigo's room. He would enter when the time was right. Now all they had to do was wait…

After they waited for what seemed like hours, Rangiku's smile brightened when she finally heard the two familiar voices she had been waiting for. Grouchy as usual, she heard Ichigo and Rukia as they made their way up the stairs into his room. When the others came to see where she was peering into his room through a small hole in the ceiling, she shoved them away and hushed them so she could hear the bickering that they exchanged. She was surprised when the first thing she saw was a stuffed lion, literally throwing itself at Rukia, crying out, "RUKIA!!!"

The poor thing was instantly met by her foot and crushed to the floor. "Long time no see, Kon." she answered back.

As the poor stuffed lion was getting the stuffing squeezed out of him, he sobbed in delight. "Yeah… only one person would stomp on me without hesitation after we hadn't seen each other for a whole summer… It has to be my Rukia-nee-san!! I'm… I'm so happy… I could cry!"

Ichigo closed the door, giving Rukia a strange, yet irritated look. " Stop messing around and get in here already."

"Oh… It's been so long since I've been in this small room!" Rukia said as she glanced around for old times sake.

"Be quiet you." warned Ichigo, "It's not that small. Don't compare it to Byakuya's place!"

"Oh, sorry, it just slipped out, I guess."

"You guess? Hey! Don't just sit on my bed like that!" Complained Ichigo as Rukia took a comfortable seat on his blanket.

"It's not such a big deal! Don't be so cold-hearted!" she whined back.

"Shut up! Just sit on the floor, stupid!" he retaliated.

Then, both them and Rangiku were distracted by the murmurs that were coming from outside Ichigo's room. By the sour expression on Ichigo's face and the way Rukia giggled, Rangiku guessed that it was Ichigo's family. He stomped to the door, throwing it open with a loud, "HEY!! GET LOST!!"

Rangiku giggled quietly when she heard the family members shriek in surprise and scurry away as Ichigo closed his door again, mumbling to himself, "Seriously! Making such a big fuss like that…"

"I see your family hasn't changed either." Drummed Rukia as she kicked her feet back and forth.

"Shut up!" growled Ichigo. "More importantly, tell me about them already. What the hell are these Arrancar? And why are they after me?"

That was their cue. Rangiku shoved by Ikkaku and Yumichika as Renji was yelling from the inside of Ichigo's big room light. "Wait up!"

In haste, Ichigo's got to his feet and looked around furiously for the source of that familiar voice. "That voice… Renji! Where are you?"

The light began to loosen as Renji spoke and Rangiku couldn't wait to see the look on Ichigo's face when they came through his ceiling. "We'll explain all of that to you."

The light broke off, and the four of them popped their heads out of the ceiling, letting the top of the light fall to the ground as Ichigo's priceless expression took over. He yelled out a hasty, "Waah?!" as, one by one, the Shinigami jumped from their hiding spot and landed gracefully on Ichigo's bed next to Rukia. "H-How'd you guys get in here?!... and what did you do to my light?!"

asked a panicked Ichigo.

With a cheery ring in her voice, Rangiku stated, "We tried to put in a new light bulb!" pointing to the reflecting glare off of Ikkaku's bald head.

With a hint of irritation, he asked, "With what exactly?" Rangiku, then, shoved him off the bed for ruining her sport.

Turning to the others, she said, "Don't be so uptight! Let's just relax and have fun!"

Crawling up from his earlier encounter with Rukia's foot, Kon glanced up, only to see the form of a heavenly goddess before him, Valley of the Gods and all. As the sparkles flew in his eyes, he regained his energy and jumped to her, crying out, "That uniform of yours is a deadly weapon, Onee-san!"

Once again, his attempts at perversion were destroyed when she dealt him a quick and effortless blow, not even changing her cheerful expression as she sat beside the others as the rest of the group watched the defeated Kon with wary expressions. "Is that the 'in' thing right now, or something?" asked Renji.

"No," replied Ichigo, "That's just him."

Once everyone was settled into place, Rukia pulled out her sketchbook and Renji began to explain to Ichigo the situation with the Arrancar. Flipping through the pages as Renji explained, Ichigo was more focused on sending ridiculous looks towards Rukia's terrible art then listening to what Renji was saying. "The Arrancar are Hollow that have removed their masks to gain the powers of both the Hollow and the Shinigami. They are few in numbers, and even fewer that are fully developed. But, fully developed Arrancar have now been created due to Aizen and his Hougyoku. Just like those two from the other day… Are you following me?"

With a wary look Ichigo mumbled, "Yeah, I get it… but the visual presentation leaves something to be desired."

Rukia angrily tossed her sketchbook in Ichigo's face, and once she was seated again, Renji's explanation resumed. "At first, Soul Society planned on quietly watching Aizen until he started to move. We'd just lost three of our captains, and we needed time to rebuild our forces. But the fully developed Arrancar appeared sooner than we expected… once they were sent to the World of the Living, we had to take action, so we were chosen."

"Who chose you?" asked Ichigo.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou." Said Renji. "Until the next Council 46 is built, he is the one making the big decisions. Rukia was chosen because she knows you the best."

"That's not true!" she interjected, "I was selected because of my ability!"

"And I was chosen," Renji continued, "Because out of the available fighters, I'm closest to Rukia. Then, I was told to pick out fighters I could trust who weren't of captain class, so I asked Ikkaku to join me. Then, Yumichika insisted on going too. When Rangiku heard the commotion, she said that she wanted to come because she didn't want to miss out on the fun. But, because Rangiku was coming, Hitsugaya-taichou reluctantly came along to keep an eye on us."

Eying the group, Ichigo exclaimed, "What the hell is this, a picnic?"

Suddenly, a new voice joined the band of Shinigami. "In any case," the group looked over to the window to see the young captain himself climb in and comfortably seat himself on the window's ledge before finishing his thought. "Aizen definitely has his eyes on you… Kurosaki Ichigo."

Upon his entrance, Rangiku looked contentedly at him, perking her cheeks in a nice smile. "Ah! It's Hitsugaya-taichou! The poor sport that refused to hide in the attic with us!"

Renji gave him a sarcastic look before asking, "Have you been waiting by the window this entire time? Not a very smart idea. A silver-haired elementary school student isn't exactly a common sight around here."

"Shut up!" Toushirou retaliated.

"Ah! I almost forgot!" interrupted Rukia.

The rest of the crowd looked to her as she finished what she was about to say. She glanced around the room eagerly, but didn't seem to find what she was looking for. Ichigo finally gave in and decided to ask, "Hey, Rukia, what are you looking for?"

"Where's Yuki?" she asked.

At the mention of her name, the other Shinigami sighed. Rukia looked at them with confusion for a moment before finally getting the message. "Ah, I see… she pulled one of her usual habits again?"

Renji put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. "Rukia, you have no idea… we were at Kurosaki's before we even noticed she was gone."

"Really? She was that sneaky this time, eh?" asked Rukia in a playful expression. She seemed to be the only one enjoying the joke at that moment.

Ichigo stared at them, a look of total confusion on his face. He had no clue of whom they were talking about. Was this 'Yuki' person a fellow Shinigami? And if so, why wasn't she here with them? What was this about a bad habit? "Hold on a second here," said Ichigo, "What the hell are you guys talking about?"

The group turned to Ichigo, as if he was asking the most obvious question in the world, and a rather pissed off captain answered his question. "'Yuki' is something at this point in time I would rather not waste my time thinking about. We already discussed this. We all know she'll be fine, so stop worrying so much and concentrate on the task at hand, which is explaining the situation to Kurosaki."

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" both Rukia and Renji yelled to the small captain, catching him a little off guard. "How can you say such things taichou?" asked an angry Renji.

"Yes! As a lower subordinate, isn't she your responsibility?" prosecuted Rukia.

"Shut up!" he yelled back, "Don't you think I know that? That's why I'm angry! It's just another headache to worry about!"

His breath caught in his throat when Matsumoto crushed him to her in a hug, gaining him the sympathy of the others as he tried to break free from her Valley of Death. Rangiku squealed, taking on an almost babyish tone. "Awww, taichou, you care!"

"Don't go getting any funny ideas, Matsumoto! And this is hardly the time! Put me down!" he yelled out between muffled.

As the group tried not to laugh at the unfortunate captain's fate, and Ichigo regained their attention. "So anyway," he continued, "who is this 'Yuki'? I'm guessing she's a Shinigami friend of yours that apparently ran off?"

Renji and Rukia looked to each other laughing. Ichigo observed the others, and they seemed to know what the other two were laughing about, but clearly did not have as strong of a connection to this person as Renji and Rukia. They looked towards him with all-knowing grins on their faces. "Trust me Ichigo, you probably won't have too much trouble making friends with her." said Renji.

"I just hope she's alright," added Rukia, "she can get a little carried away sometimes."

When he finally freed himself from Rangiku's grasp, Toushirou huffed, fixing himself before continuing where he left off. "at any rate-"

Suddenly, a high-pitched cry was heard outside, along with the loud screeching of car tires. The room was at a stand still, but when there was no crash, the whole group released the breath they had been holding. Ichigo stood up quickly, a worried expression on his face. "What the hell was that?!" he asked in shock.

Renji and Rukia looked to each other with deadpanned expressions and simply said, "Yuki."

"What?" he answered back disbelievingly.

Renji turned around and opened the door to Ichigo's window, waving and calling out, "Hey, Yuki! Up here!"

In almost no time at all, Ichigo heard a small, feminine voice answering back, "Oh, there you all are! I'll be up in a minute!"

Renji came back in the window, a grin on his face. Rukia smiled up at him, asking, "Is she alright? She almost just got hit by that car, didn't she?"

"Naturally," was his answer, "she would get herself into that sort of dangerous situation."

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted again when they heard a horrible screeching sound, like fingernails on steel. When it stopped, they took a moment to collect themselves, but then it came back. After the second assault on their ears, Toushirou glanced out the window, barking down at Yuki as she tried to climb up Ichigo's wall to get to his room. "What the hell are you doing? You're creating so much noise!"

"Please forgive me Hitsugaya-taichou, but not all of us are incredible climbers like you are… geez, it's hard trying to climb these walls…what are they made of, steel?"

Sighing, Toushirou decided to just help her and get her up before they wasted any more time on this foolishness. "Do you need some help?"

"Well now, that would be much appreciated, Hitsugaya-taichou." she replied cheerily.

Sighing, Toushirou hung his arm out of the window, trying to grab hold of hers. Sometimes, he just didn't know about Yuki. To him, she seemed like a girl who thought that life was one big game and never knew when the time came to take things seriously… almost like Rangiku. However, when he didn't feel her hand making contact with his, he looked down to see what the problem was and groaned. Both of them were too short to reach the other. They realized the irony of their situation and sighed. Yuki tried to laugh it off, and managed to whisper a small, "awkward" to herself.

Just then, Toushirou glanced up when someone poked him, and saw Renji. Hitsugaya frowned, not wanting the red-haired lieutenant to point out his height disadvantage. "What is it Abarai?"

"Hitsugaya-taichou, may I please help her up since you seem to be having some trouble?"

Sighing, Toushirou gave up rather easily, responding with a flat, "Go ahead. I won't be much help here."

"Thank you captain!"

And with that, Renji reached down to grab Yuki's hand as she was starting to climb the siding of the house again, which made Renji dive for her hand quicker. They didn't need to go through that ear torture again. When he finally pulled her into the window, she tripped on the ledge and rolled in, making her land in an awkward position. As she stood up, straitening her braided pigtails, she wasn't even aware that Rukia was doing introductions until she saw Rukia staring at her. She hesitated for a moment, then noticed Ichigo looking at her. She perked up, smiling to him in her usual manner of friendliness. "Yosh! I'm Hoshino Yuki! It's very nice to meet you, umm… uhh... F-Forgive me, your name was…?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo" replied Ichigo, taking her hand and shaking it in a friendly greeting.

"Well, Ichigo, it's nice to meet you!" She smiled to him before taking a seat next to Rukia, who quietly questioned her about her whereabouts. Then, they realized that the whole group of Shinigami was staring at them, and knowing that this was all her fault for letting her habit get the best of her, she uttered a nervous, "sorry" to the group before going back to her discussion with Rukia.

"For all the trouble she put us through, she better be sorry" grumbled Toushirou.

"Oh taichou, stop being so grumpy!" teased Rangiku playfully.

"IN ANY CASE!" yelled the captain, getting the attention of the entire room. Finally, he could resume his important discussion.

"Arrancar are certainly born when a Hollow tears off its mask, however, the resulting maskless hollow is not much of a threat. If he really wanted to create an army of Arrancar to wage war on the Soul Society… then Aizen's objective in creating Arrancar is to come up with something even greater than the Menos."

"Greater than the Menos?" Hitsugaya glanced over to a perplexed Ichigo. "What do you mean? It sounds like you're implying that there is an even higher level than the Menos." stated a rather nervous Ichigo.

The substitute gasped when the small captain said, "Yes."

"Well, more specifically," said Toushirou, turning from the windowsill to face the rest of them, "there exists three classes of Menos. The first are the Gillian. They're the lowest level, and in human terms, you might liken them to foot soldiers. They're numerous and they all look the same. Gillian are the Menos Grande you usually see in Soul Society textbooks. The Menos you fought shortly after gaining your Shinigami powers and before coming to the Soul Society was a Gillian."

With a shocked, almost disbelieving expression, Ichigo stared at the small captain. "He was… just a foot soldier?"

"Although they appear to be big," continued the tenth division captain, "their movements are slow and their intelligence level is that of a beast. It wouldn't be difficult for someone at captain class to defeat one. The next class is more problematic. The second are the Adjuchas. They're smaller than the Gillian and fewer in number, but the are highly intelligent and several times more able than the Gillian in battle, therefore much more dangerous. They look after the numerous Gillian. Then, the third are the Vasto Lordes… They're the greatest of the Menos. They are about the same size as humans. There are very few of them, only a few in all of Hueco Mundo… Bluntly put, a Vasto Lorde's battle abilities are even greater than a captain's."

The entire room sat in shock, waiting to hear the end of his soliloquy.

"By changing the Menos into Arrancar, they come into possession of an incalculable amount of power, and we have yet to know just how much stronger they become in the change. With three of our captains now on their side, commanding all those Menos, all we can say is this: If, at this point in time, Aizen manages to bring ten Vasto Lordes under his control,

it's the end of the Soul Society…


End file.
